Paycheck Calculator

Your pay is turned into a yearly figure, taxed for the year with the 2026 federal rules, then divided back into paychecks. Every tax uses its own base.

Here $T$ is your taxable income, $G$ is your gross pay for the year, $P$ is your pre-tax deductions (a traditional 401(k) and cafeteria plan benefits) and $D$ is the standard deduction. Then each tax is worked out:

• Federal income tax applies the brackets to your taxable income, one slice at a time. Each rate taxes only the dollars inside its bracket.
• Social Security is 6.2% of your wages up to $184,500 a year.
• Medicare is 1.45% of all your wages, plus 0.9% on wages over $200,000.
• State and local tax is the rate you enter, applied to your wages after pre-tax deductions.

A traditional 401(k) lowers your income tax but not Social Security or Medicare. Health insurance, HSA and FSA money taken through a cafeteria plan lowers all three. After-tax deductions, such as a Roth 401(k), come out last.

The standard deduction for 2026 is $16,100 if you are single, $32,200 if you are married filing jointly and $24,150 for head of household.

Maria checks her first paycheck

Maria earns $3,000 every two weeks, which is $78,000 a year. She is single and lives in a state with no wage tax. Her taxable income is $61,900.

Each paycheck loses $320.38 to federal tax, $186.00 to Social Security and $43.50 to Medicare. She takes home $2,450.12. Open this example in the tool

Maria starts saving in her 401(k)

Maria signs up for a 6% traditional 401(k). That puts $180.00 into her account every paycheck. But her take-home falls by only $140.40, to $2,309.72.

The rest is tax she no longer pays: her federal tax drops by $39.60, which is her 22% bracket rate on the $180.00. If she paid $150 of health insurance through her employer instead, her take-home would fall by $105.53, since that also skips Social Security and Medicare. Open this example in the tool

Chris and Lee look at a joint salary

Chris and Lee have one $120,000 salary, paid twice a month, and file jointly. Their state taxes wages at about 4%.

Each $5,000.00 paycheck loses $418.33 to federal tax, $200.00 to the state and $382.50 to Social Security and Medicare. They take home $3,999.17. All taxes together take 20% of their pay, even though their top federal bracket is 12%. Open this example in the tool

The big number is what should reach your bank account each payday. The split bar shows how much of your gross pay you keep. Your bracket is the rate on your last dollar of taxable income; the share of pay is what all taxes take from your whole check, which is always lower.

This table shows a single filer with no deductions and no state tax, using the 2026 brackets from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32.

Two limits change the picture at high pay. Social Security stops once your wages for the year pass $184,500, the 2026 wage base from the Social Security Administration. Your employer must also withhold an extra 0.9% Medicare tax on wages over $200,000, whatever your filing status, as IRS Topic 560 explains.

Your real withholding may differ by a few dollars. Employers use the IRS Publication 15-T method and your W-4, which round in their own way. This is an estimate of a regular paycheck, not a tax return.

• Entering a salary as pay per check. Switch the pay box to per year before you type $78,000, or it will be read as one paycheck.
• Using your top state bracket. Most states tax the first dollars at lower rates. Your average rate on wages is lower than the top bracket and gives a closer estimate.
• Treating a Roth 401(k) as pre-tax. Roth money is taxed now. Enter it as an after-tax deduction, not in the 401(k) box.
• Expecting a bonus check to look the same. Bonuses are often withheld at a flat 22% federal rate, so a bonus check can differ a lot from this estimate.
• Forgetting the second job or a spouse's pay. Each employer withholds as if their job is your only income. With two incomes, your combined tax can be higher than either paycheck suggests.